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ISSUE 81 2023 ISSN 1743-503X THE WORLD OF FINEWINE www.worldoffi newine.com Founder Laurence Orbach Editorial Adviser Hugh Johnson OBE Contributing Editor Andrew Jefford Editor Neil Beckett neil.beckett@worldoffi newine.com Deputy Editor and Website Editor David Williams david.williams@worldoffi newine.com Tastings Editor Anastasia Edwards anastasia.edwards@worldoffi newine.com Food Editor Francis Percival francis.percival@worldoffi newine.com Chief Subeditor David Tombesi-Walton david@sandseditorial.co.uk Team Assistant Kazumi Suzuki Group Art Director Henrik Williams Designer Simon Murrell Production Manager Clare Ovenell Subscription Manager Ikram Qureshi Special Projects Manager Jeremy Wilkinson Advertising Group Sales Director Jiggs Patel jiggs.patel@worldoffi newine.com Tel: +44 20 3096 2286 Sales Director EMEA Anit Mistry anit.mistry@worldoffi newine.com Tel: +44 20 3096 2290 Wine Advertising: France Delphine Rouget-Marquézy drm@espacequadri.com Chief Executive Offi cer Mike Phillips Editorial Director Thea Halstead Events Director Sara Donaldson Data Protection Manager David Watkins Subscription & Back-Issue Inquiries subscriptions@worldoffi newine.com Tel: +44 20 7406 6790 Subscription Prices One year (4 issues): US$202, €165, £105 Two years (8 issues): US$327, €267, £170 The World of Fine Wine may be purchased at selected stores worldwide. The World of Fine Wine John Carpenter House 7 Carmelite Street London EC4Y 0BS Printed by Stephens and George Goat Mill Road Dowlais Merthyr Tydfil Mid Glamorgan CF48 3TD For reprint, e-print and licensing inquiries, please contact: Media Licensing Co, The Grange, 3 Waverley Road, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8BB, UK. Tel: +44 20 3773 9320 or email info@medialicensingco.com § WELCOME Neil Beckett Does abstinence make the heart grow fonder?” It’s a penetrating question that Harry Eyres poses, after spending some of his summer at a “somewhat austere establishment” on the shores of Austria’s Lake Wörthersee. His own carefully considered answer is, “I would put it somewhat differently. In this case, abstinence from wine had been combined with what […] is called thoughtful eating […]. Coming back to wine, in Vienna, I found I appreciated it more thoughtfully. One glass, sipped at a pace somewhere between andante and adagio, seemed to give as much satisfaction as two in my hastier days […]. [We] all calculate our own risks and make our own choices, but drinking more thoughtfully brings nothing but benefits” (p.18). Albeit not in such life-saving ways, the power of emotion and thought in the world of wine is amply demonstrated in many of the other pieces here, from the perspective of both producers and consumers. David Schildknecht, in his insightful review of Jon Bonné’s The New French Wine, observes that “French self-perception is at the heart of Bonné’s narrative, extending well beyond matters normally thought to have vinous import [...]. Soulcraft and self-imaging are in essence what’s being practiced by those vignerons whom Bonné chooses to canvass in detail” (pp. 48–52). The effect of new ideas on the wines is explored via producers as varied as Krug and Niepoort, Roederer and Penfolds (pp.64–65, 92–95, 108–12, 160–65). David Williams, in his beautifully balanced introduction to our skin-contact whites tasting, writes, “Even for those of us who have taken the leap of faith required to engage with them, the very newness of the category (in its modern form) has its challenges […]. For the taster, it’s a matter of adapting and widening our aesthetic frame of reference and learning how to move beyond an initial infatuation with maceration in and of itself […] toward a more discerning appreciation of the many nuances that come with greater experience of these wines” (pp.194–201). While Edward Ragg MW and Fongyee Walker MW reveal that “the new faces of modern Chinese wine are trying to make the most […] of what makes wine worth sharing in the first place. For some […] here, at least, that is not all about prestige, label-gazing, and ‘face,’ but about having values that run deeper” (p.154). The intricate and inextricable connection between mental and physical health and wine’s role in it is here explored by Dr Erik Skovenborg in a helpful summary of important recent research, “When the mind controls the fate of the heart”: “Studies of the relationship between alcohol and stress suggest that drinking can reduce stress in certain people and under certain circumstances […]: Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin professor of anthropology at Rutgers University and author of The Pursuit of Pleasure, was asked for a definition of ‘the moderate use of alcohol.’ He replied that it was when alcohol was employed to have more fun with one’s friends and family. If it is used to mask or deny serious personal and social issues, however, then alcohol consumption is not ‘‘moderate,’’ regardless of the amounts used” (pp.20–21). Professor Lionel Tiger was asked to define “the moderate use of alcohol.” He replied that it was when alcohol was employed to have more fun with one’s friends and family yand WJon by . Photography ise lonna Cha , Côte Poncey in incent Lumpp Vine f ter harvest at Doma : A ll. Cover image Murre Dan by Illustration THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 81 | 2023 | 3